Meet the team
Autonomy Care Group Directors:
Andrew Dykes
Chairman
Andrew is a non-practising barrister whose initial career was in marine insurance where he specialised in oil pollution of the sea.
After a Sloan Fellowship at the London Business School in 1986-87 he branched out into other fields and has held directorships of several companies.
He has been involved in the care of people with learning disabilities as an owner/operator since 1997 and is closely involved with the operation of the services provided.
Steve Tayler
Director
Steve has over 20 years experience of working alongside individuals with profound learning disabilities, challenging behaviours and or complex health care needs. Steve has been a member of the management team since May 2008, and Director since 2016.
Steve has obtained his level 4 management award, in addition to the relevant mandatory training requirements.
Lucy Jolliffe
Commercial Director
Lucy achieved her CIMA qualification in 1997. Her career progressed over the following years primarily within manufacturing organisations reaching Director of Finance before taking a career break to raise a family.
Lucy Joined the company in 2010 predominantly to oversee the accounting function, however, her role has now developed to manage all aspects of finance, admin and HR for the company.
Autonomy Life - The Willows and Willows View Team:
Pete Bates
Registered Manager
The registered manager for the Willows. He has worked in health and social care for 26 years with people with learning disabilities and complex needs. He has worked in England and Wales in both the private and charitable sectors at Manager and Regional Manager level.
Pete is our Positive Behaviour support lead, overseeing the delivery of Positive Behaviour Management training for all our services. He has attained a Level 5 diploma in Health and Social Care and is a Manual Handling Trainer and Person-centred Planning facilitator.
Lynette Collier
Assistant Manager
Lynette has over 25 year’s experience of working alongside individuals with learning disabilities, challenging behaviour and Mental Health starting as a support worker.
She started with Autonomy Life in March 2020 and wanted to build good knowledge and relationships within The Willows, to enable staff and service users to reach their full potentials.
Lynette feels she is empathetic and a great people’s person and has achieved her level 4 Diploma in Health and Social Care.
Autonomy Life - The Oaks Team:
Adina Iures
Registered Manager
Working at The Oaks for over 7 years having started as a support worker, progressing to team leader and now the Registered Manager.
She achieved level 2 in Health and Social Care, level 2 in Team Leading and QCF level 5 in Health and Social Care. She also has a degree in psychology achieved at the University in Bucharest.
She enjoys working with people with challenging behaviour and finds her job really rewarding. She believes that when you work in care you need to have empathy for the people that you support, and they will reward you back with happiness and progression.
Marie Kay
Assistant Manager
Marie has worked in Health and Social Care for over 16 years, primarily with vulnerable adults in various settings including placements, community and Local Authorities. Her experience includes working with the elderly, mental health, challenging behaviours, palliative, learning disabilities, young adults at risk of becoming homeless and recently with children and families.
Marie has level 2 qualifications in Dementia Awareness and Equality & Diversity, level 3 qualifications in End of Life and NVQ 3 Health and Social Care. She achieved a Degree in Applied Health and Social Sciences in 2016 and her value set includes working with transparency, integrity and empathy, with a special interest in the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Marie firmly believes in effective leadership to manage team-working and valuing staff to encourage best practice.
Jacky O’Driscoll
Trainee Assistant Manager
Jacky has over 30 years experience working in the care sector, initially starting in a residential care setting in Wales. She later moved to Malvern where she trained as a counsellor for “Life" before joining Hereford and Worcester Ambulance Service and recently employed with West Midlands Ambulance Service as a bank staff member in her spare time.
She joined Autonomy Life in 2010 as a support worker and progressed to her current role as Trainee Assistant Manager in 2020. She has achieved both her NVQ level 2 and level 3 in care, a level 2 team leader qualification and an IQ functional skills qualification in ICT in 2017. This training has complimented her development to add experience and longevity to the management team.
Kayleigh Holmans
Trainee Assistant Manager
Kayleigh has worked in health and social care for almost 10 years, starting as a support worker and progressing to a Registered Managers position. She is currently studying for her QCF Level 5 in Leadership and Management.
Kayleigh is very passionate about health and social care and really enjoys working with the service users we support. She is enjoying utilising her skills and knowledge in her new role and is excited about having the opportunity to develop within a growing company.
Claire Hawkins
Fixed-Term - Trainee Assistant Manager
Claire started her journey with Autonomy Care Group in 2010 when she joined the Autonomy Life team as a support worker.
Her achievements include Health and Social Care NVQ level 2, ICQ level 3 Diploma in Health and Social Care and ICQ Intermediate Level 2 Apprenticeship in Team Leading.
In 2018 Claire Joined the domiciliary side of the business at Autonomy Care as a Care-Coordinator. Claire was able to expand and utilise her extensive knowledge in supporting adults with learning disabilities and complex behavioural needs.
The role enabled Claire to take on more managerial responsibilities and she is currently working towards a Level 5 Leadership and Management Diploma in Health and Social Care which she will be applying to her new role as a Trainee Assistant Manager back with Autonomy Life.
Autonomy Care - Wiltshire:
Amanda Wheeler
Registered Manager
Her career in care started in Plymouth where she achieved NVQ 3 in Health and Social Care at Plymouth College. After leaving college in 2009, Amanda went to work in Plymouth hospital as a healthcare assistant.
Having progressed through various healthcare sectors from hospitals, domiciliary care to supported living, she was then seconded to work in a dementia home in Bath.
Amanda started working for Autonomy Care in November 2018 and looks forward to making a positive impact and difference to service users, staff and family members within her role.
Rhona Sievewright
Assistant Manager
Over 6 years ago, Rhona joined the team as a bank support worker progressing to a full time role, working in all aspects of care. Her career covers domiciliary, complex needs, end of life and behaviours that challenge. She later progressed to a senior role in recognition of her contribution to the company.
In July 2020 Rhona was promoted to assistant manager and is loving her new challenge.
Autonomy Care - Salisbury:
Leanne Myers
Service Manager
Autonomy Plus - Haresfield:
Mike Evans
Registered Manager
Mike started working in care in 2010, working with vulnerable adults with learning disabilities. 5 years later Mike began working in childcare, working with children with autism and associated disabilities. By 2017 Mike completed his QCF Level 3 and then became a Deputy Manager when moving to work with children with emotional and behaviour difficulties.
In 2018 he moved back to his passion which was working with children with disabilities as a Registered Manager. Mike joined Autonomy Plus in November 2019 as a Service Manager before receiving his registration in May 2020 and is really looking forward to the new challenges ahead.
Sandra Brailey
Assistant Manager
Sandra has had 20 years experience supporting individuals with Learning Difficulties, Challenging Behaviour, Complex Health Care needs and young people with Emotional and Behaviour Difficulties.
Sandra began her career as a support worker in 1998 at a Respite Home before moving on in 2001 to a Residential Children’s home. During this time Sandra completed her NVQ 3 and NVQ 4 in Health and Social Care and took on the role of Assistant Manager.
Sandra joined the management team at Autonomy Care in December 2015, subsequently transferring to the management team at Haresfield in 2019.
Autonomy Care Group - Head Office:
Hazel Wordley
HR Executive
Hazel’s career began in administration gaining experience in various industries including manufacturing, health and social care and recruitment, progressing into supervisory and office management roles.
Having developed an interest in employee relations and employment law Hazel achieved her CIPD Level 5 Intermediate Certificate in HR Management. She pursued a career in Human Resources and joined Autonomy Care Group in August 2017 as HR Executive to support the group and service managers with all aspects of Human Resources.
Scott Dawson
Finance Manager
Scott has been working in accounts for over 7 years, mainly in the hospitality sector, continuously gaining experience and pushing himself to maintain a high level of professionalism in everything he does. He moved to the Autonomy Care Group in June 2018 to help progress his career and has settled in quickly becoming a respected member of the finance team. He hopes to maintain his career progression by obtaining his Chartered accountancy qualification in the coming years.
Steph Pearce
HR/Admin Assistant
After Steph finished school and college, she started her first full time job in an apprenticeship working towards her level 3 in Business Administration.
Upon completion of her apprenticeship, she starting her role as Admin / HR assistant with Autonomy Care Group in October 2018. Steph is keen to progress her knowledge of HR and plans to start her CIPD Level 3 qualification in September 2019.
Stephanie Newman
HR Officer
Stephanie's career began in fashion retail 24 years ago, progressing through the company to area Learning and Development Assistant. Stephanie moved from fashion retail into interior design as a store manager in 2010. After promotion within the same company to HR and Central Operations Manager, she enrolled on the CIPD Level 5 Diploma in Human Resource Manager, graduating in October 2018. She joined the Autonomy Care Group Team in September 2020 as HR officer to support the growth of services group wide. Outside of work, she is a keen crafter and dog lover.
Josh Rolfe
Accounts Assistant
Josh left school and started his accountancy career by studying at Bath College to obtain his AAT Level 2 qualification. He started his role as Accounts Assistant at Autonomy Care Group Limited in December 2019 to develop his accounting skills and hopes to study for AAT Level 3 in the near future.
Jen Latham
Marketing Co-Ordinator
After completing her Degree and Masters in Film Production, Jen learnt many key skills in campaigning and the art of Digital Marketing. Jen now has over 5 years experience in marketing over a variety of different sectors and brings her core skills in social media, content writing and branding awareness to Autonomy Care Group.
Jen joined Autonomy Care Group in December 2019 after relocating from Manchester.